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Halo: Reach Beta Thread

UltimaPooh said:
You guys want the grenades nerfed? Granted they are annoying but I don't think they are any more powerful than in Halo 3, and those were one hit kill grenades.
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Grenades in Halo 3 would blow out shield, you would then shoot them to be dead. Now it's shoot guy, then chuck grenade. I got shot twice by a pistol and then the guy chucks a grenade and I'm dead. BS.
 
Ten-Song said:
God, whoever invented that mode is the worst human being to ever walk the face of the Earth.
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I actually love it because of the shotty. However it shouldn't be the main course in slayer.
 
Here is a wonderful screenshot I took a while to frame up and get right.

dr8mdf.jpg


hwlmc5.jpg

WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!?!?!?!?!
 
Phatcorns said:
My god man, let me explain the whole melee shield garbage. If I start shooting first, I should be at an advantage. But if I get his shields to 10 percent, and he gets my shields to 30 percent and we both melee at the same time, now our shields are gone and we are on even footing again. That makes ZERO SENSE.
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Actually it makes sense just fine, assuming the shield is temporarily deactivating instead of flat out breaking. After it reachs the threshold, the shield shuts down. It still prevents the damage that caused the shutdown though.

Gameplay wise, I think it's kinda rare to meaningfully get the drop on someone and wind up like that.
 
So when people are doing the ground punch charge thing they're invincible? I kept smacking a guy in the face while he was doing it but then he got up and killed me.

I have a lot to learn but I'm still decent for a noob. My only serious blunder was in my first game where I kept delivering the flags to the enemy base thinking it was where I was supposed to take them.
 
Snuggler said:
So when people are doing the ground punch charge thing they're invincible? I kept smacking a guy in the face while he was doing it but then he got up and killed me.
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Yes. But they are sitting ducks. Also they have a damage radius while doing that, which extends the longer they hold it. So backup a bit from them.
 
Snuggler said:
So when people are doing the ground punch charge thing they're invincible? I kept smacking a guy in the face while he was doing it but then he got up and killed me.

I have a lot to learn but I'm still decent for a noob. My only serious blunder was in my first game where I kept delivering the flags to the enemy base thinking it was where I was supposed to take them.
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Don't touch Armor locked spartans.
 
Now im starting to hate party chat...if you arent a full 4 in a small objective game, at least go normal chat. Tell people that enemies are running up and yet they cant do anything at the time since they cant hear me.
 
Snuggler said:
So when people are doing the ground punch charge thing they're invincible? I kept smacking a guy in the face while he was doing it but then he got up and killed me.

I have a lot to learn but I'm still decent for a noob. My only serious blunder was in my first game where I kept delivering the flags to the enemy base thinking it was where I was supposed to take them.
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Yes, and if you're next to them when they get up, it blows your shields. So be sure to stay backed away.
 
Just an observation but I remember Bungie talking about Reach having longer player encounters as far as combat goes in comparison to the other games in the franchise...I don't see that. :lol Not with nades being this powerful at least.
 
Making the grenades weaker isn't going to change much. People are still going to spam the shit out of them because they're all over the place. Grenade spam was a problem in Halo 3. The focus needs to be on adjusting how nades are obtained rather than their damage.
 
Kuroyume said:
Making the grenades weaker isn't going to change much. People are still going to spam the shit out of them because they're all over the place. Grenade spam was a problem in Halo 3. The focus needs to be on adjusting how nades are obtained rather than their damage.
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This is true, they really are all over the maps. I rarely run out, and usually have 2 of each.
 
Grenade damage is ok, but the range or timer need a little work. They're really really hard to dodge and when they're that strong it's annoying to get shot twice and get a grenade at my feet and I can't do anything about it.
 
Son of Godzilla said:
Actually it makes sense just fine, assuming the shield is temporarily deactivating instead of flat out breaking. After it reachs the threshold, the shield shuts down. It still prevents the damage that caused the shutdown though.

Gameplay wise, I think it's kinda rare to meaningfully get the drop on someone and wind up like that.
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It is rare. If you get the drop on someone and they don't have an over powering weapon there is no way you should lose the fight. If you are trying to go the whole, "Oh I'm gonna shoot you three times and then melee you for an easy kill" route then you are a fool. Plain and simple.

An AR takes almost a full clip to disable shields. If you put half a clip in someone and then melee them it isn't going to kill them. People are trying to play this game like it's H3 and it isn't. It seems that the majority of the people who have huge problems with it are coming from that group.

The people who have complaints about the reticules, bloom, etc., have legitimate reasoning. The melee stuff is just ridiculous.

Also, I love my AR. Realize it's a little underpowered, not by much though, but it is the weapon I have the most kills with.

AR, melee, frags, shotty, DMR, are my top 5.


LAUGHTREY said:
Grenade damage is ok, but the range or timer need a little work. They're really really hard to dodge and when they're that strong it's annoying to get shot twice and get a grenade at my feet and I can't do anything about it.
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You can do something about it. Armor lock, sprint, or jetpack away. Depends on the area of course.
 
Not a Jellyfish said:
We should all party up this weekend. See if it will actually give a whole party of players with our lack of skill a good game. :lol
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Count me in. I am getting worked. The only thing keeping me from giving up is buying armor for my spartan. :lol
 
Another thing that I would like to see is having more control over the time when you spawn. Having only 5 seconds is too little to decide which ability I want to pick next. I often find myself wishing I had switched abilities during the spawn counter but I was still getting over the shock of getting killed in those 5 seconds. A different system could behave something like this.


You die, a 5 seconds to "spawn" timer starts. Your last ability is preselected, but to confirm, you need to press A.
The 5 seconds to "spawn" timer ends, If you selected an activity with A, you can spawn with your selected ability, or keep choosing if no ability has been selected. The 5 seconds to "forced spawn" time starts.
The "forced spawn" timer ends and if no ability has been selected you spawn with your previously chosen ability.

This method could not be exploited, it keeps the pace of the game and gives a couple valuable seconds to a player to process the current situation and make a better AA selection.

Teknoman said:
:lol bitching about people not voting for what you want needs to stop.
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A lot of people miss the vote because they are checking their previous match stats (matchmaking is really fast). A sound cue to indicate that the voting has started should be in place.

Also, I am not bitching about the speed of matchmaking. I actually love the fact its so fast now.
 
It's weird how I extremely hate melee, but I have the most kills with it. :P

Also, we should get a party of eight together. It just matches you with a gametype to play; no additional players or anything. Pretty much the closest we'll get to customs for now.
 
Doodis said:
Count me in. I am getting worked. The only thing keeping me from giving up is buying armor for my spartan. :lol
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:lol Same here, that and I hope when the greater population starts playing on the 3rd, that maybe it will be a little more even.
 
Not a Jellyfish said:
:lol Same here, that and I hope when the greater population starts playing on the 3rd, that maybe it will be a little more even.
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Is your Friends list full? I just sent a request but it's not going through.

EDIT: Nevermind, I think it's xbox.com.
 
godhandiscen said:
Yeah, the graphics have won me over too. I could point you to a couple graphical artifacts though. In Swordbase, look at the command table near the blue base, you will see that the table has some dissapearing black lines, it's some really bad clipping.
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I find it hilarious that they used Z-fighting to make the mouse-like controls beside the computer monitors appear to flicker.
 
GhaleonEB said:
The shield delimiter applies to other weapons as well; it takes half a ream of needles to pop the shield, then another to pop the player beneath them. The entire idea of making the health/shield system so separated, no connection between them, disrupts combat greatly.

Some targeting reticules, such the pistol, are very hard to see in many situations; this not only makes aiming hard, but timing the rhythm of the shots difficult.


Of the two maps, I simply hate one of them. Sword Base is a poorly designed, arbitrary, bland and confusing mess of a map. I put it among the worst in the series.

Player movement feels more like Oblivion than Halo. Gone are the joyful, smooth jumps, the elegance of the strafe, the feeling of agility in close quarters movement. I feel like I have weights tied around my waist (or am constipated, as someone else said). I keep saying this, but it just does not feel anything like a Halo game to me. It's not the movement speed or the jump height, it's that they simply redid how the game plays. I don't know why and can't really articulate it. But playing Reach is simply not fun.


It's funny, I played the game on the same days as the Activision announcement. I read that, and my first thought was, "that's very un-Bungie-like." That's what the game feels like as well; this is very un-Bungie-like to me. :(
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Ghaleon, I can totally empathize with you, because I know exactly how it feels to have a game that you loved become foreign. Each new Halo game has been a hard transition for me, but I've been able to enjoy all of them.

I think you have some good points, especially with the movement of spartans. One thing I noticed is how much everyone loves playing the elites, including me. They are faster and jump higher, and their movement just feels smoother. I wonder if perhaps Bungie could keep spartans gimped for invasion games, but for all other "only spartan" games, they could transfer over the movement and feel of the elites to the spartans. I think most people would welcome this with open arms.

The disconnect between the shield and health doesn't bother me as much as having to pop the shield before you can lose any health. i think I'd prefer to just have a set amount of damage a shield can absorb and anything over contributes to the removal of health. This might be more agreeable with you too.

Sword base is not favorite map, but I still like it a lot better than many of the Halo3 maps. It's confusing as heck, but I think I won't mind it as much once I have it all memorized. I almost never go without a jetpack on that level because the jetpack makes a world of difference as far as getting around. Any other AA and I become frustrated with trying to get around. I've also noticed that when I use sprint, I get a little bit of motion sickness.

As far as the reticule goes, it is gonna be a matter of practice and getting used to timing of different weapon accuracies for me. I think over time I will overcome the oddness of how weapons function in Reach.

Anyway, there is still time for changes. That's what the beta is for!!:D Don't lose hope just yet.

On a different note, I wanted to thank everyone at Bungie for all of their hard work and getting me into the FnF Beta :D
ty_bungie3.jpg

EDIT: Almost forgot about Coco.
 
godhandiscen said:
Another thing that I would like to see is having more control over the time when you spawn. Having only 5 seconds is too little to decide which ability I want to pick next. I often find myself wishing I had switched abilities during the spawn counter but I was still getting over the shock of getting killed in those 5 seconds. A different system could behave something like this.


You die, a 5 seconds to "spawn" timer starts. Your last ability is preselected, but to confirm, you need to press A.
The 5 seconds to "spawn" timer ends, If you selected an activity with A, you can spawn with your selected ability, or keep choosing if no ability has been selected. The 5 seconds to "forced spawn" time starts.
The "forced spawn" timer ends and if no ability has been selected you spawn with your previously chosen ability.

This method could not be exploited, it keeps the pace of the game and gives a couple valuable seconds to a player to process the current situation and make a better AA selection.



A lot of people miss the vote because they are checking their previous match stats (matchmaking is really fast). A sound cue to indicate that the voting has started should be in place.

Also, I am not bitching about the speed of matchmaking. I actually love the fact its so fast now.
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No im talking about the people in game, just got an earful because "someone" didnt vote for slayer and wanted to try something different.

Its the same as it was in Halo 3 if you didnt veto the map/mode they didnt want.
 
Okay so here are some critcisms.

- Swordbase needs to lose the Plasma launcher because a team with both the sniper and the plasma launcher can easily camp and control the entire map.

- Slow down the intermission between matches. Give us a little bit to check stats. Voting comes and goes to fast. I say 30 seconds to a minute of intermission is good enough. The matchmaking is fast and I love it. You guys got that down now just give us some breathing room in certain areas.

- Make the arrows that appear on your screen when you are getting shot at brighter and not in the center of the screen. Put them on the lines that separate the screen into thirds. I think I'm more likely to look there. Also up the brightness and contrast on the crosshairs.
 
16 games played and I'm floored by the game. Though I have complaints, though most only depend on the current lack of matchmaking options, there is just to much here to love. Cannot wait until Invasion as to have more loadout options are quicker access to new, hottness weapons.
 
I wouldn't worry about things like weapon balance. I'm sure that shit is constantly being tweaked and is already way different than what we're playing.

What I think is important is the feel of the game. It feels like a mix between Halo and Shadowrun. I shit you not I caught myself crouching and shooting the DMR on 2 separate occasions. The game doesn't do a great job is of conveying what's happening in the game to the player. First, I think it's too difficult to tell how low someone shields are. In Halo 3, the lights on the Spartans armor light up. The lower the shields, the brighter the lights. I really can only tell if a guy is no shields when I'm the one who takes them down. It's also a little difficult to see the shields pop at close range.

I also think that headshot weapons should have a little dot in the middle of the reticule to tell the play when they have a headshot lined up. The BR had it and I think the Magnum, DMR and Needle Rifle should as well.

Also there's this weird thing that happens with finishing headshots. I don't know what it is, if maybe the hit box is a little off and I'm just not used to it but sometimes I'm pumping shots of DMR or magnum in a guys face and he's just not fucking dying when he has no shields. This usually happens mid to close range when I'm finishing a guy off and I start to shoot my DMR or Magnum at a higher rate. I can see that I'm lining up the shots and I feel like I'm at the range where I'm going to get a headshot. I pull the trigger and he's just not dying. It's so weird. Maybe the headshot hit box is smaller and I'm just not used to it but it feels weird. I feel like I'm being dicked out of a kill :lol

Umm what else. Grenades are really weird in this game. I'll have a grenade land near by and the game will deafen the sound and I'll look at my shields and they'll barely be touched. After the grenade explodes and the sound effect kicks in I'll go hide thinking I'm seriously injured when I'm not. That just doesn't feel natural to me. Also, shields beep as soon as they're touched. That also throws me off because it makes me think I'm no shields when I'm almost full.

Also with the sound. The effects and everything sound great but it's a little off. When I'm playing Halo 3, I know exactly where guns are being fired from (behind walls, across the map) and the exact direction (to my left, above me, below me). In the BETA (I know it's just a beta) I have issues. Gunshots on Swordbase behind walls and across the map sound like they're right in front of me. I'm sure this will be addressed if it hasn't already.

The radar gives too much away (elevation) I can't trick people like I want to :lol

I'm still finding the perfect rhythm with the DMR and Magnum. I'm getting more and more 5 shots with them. People are playing the game so differently. I see less strafing, less 1v1 magnum vs DMR fights. I guess it's just the low level play. The best games I've played in the beta were against the Halo 3 pros and semi pros. I felt like the game was being played correctly.

I really dislike 1 Flag CTF on both maps as well as FFA Oddball. However, FFA Oddball was never a good gametype. Ummm I'm still getting used to the new health system. No shields makes you a one shot I'm slowly starting to realize. I find myself often with low health because I like to stay in the fight until last possible second and then retreat. That can't happen anymore because my health doesn't regenerate.

I've also discovered new jumps and ledges on both maps which I am please about. I wish I could play this game on a smaller, symmetrical map rather than the ones offered in Beta.

That's all I can think of right now.
 
Stabby McSter said:
mlpf9j.jpg

OAUSIDLBMx,cB<>!!!
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BH2.png


lol

Man i just had a covy slayer match that was so satisfying, there were so many crazy close calls that evade saved me from, 3 instances i was like "wtf?! im alive?!" lol But serious... meleeing... wtf, i hope they fix that mess.
 
Few points,

- I'm enjoying sword base, once you find out all the little shortcuts it makes the map a lot more interesting. Still isn't a brilliant map, but it's on a par with some of the good Halo 3 maps. Powerhouse I don't really like.

- As everyone else has said, feedback when you are being fired on is awful. I've no idea where I'm being killed from, how much health/shield I have left and, worst of all, I haven't got a clue when I'm killing people!

- Headhunter is a excellent game type.

- Grenades make more sense in Slayer Pro. Why? Because people only start with 1 and use them more strategically.

- I don't know why I'm so shit at Reach compared to the other Halos. :lol

Tashi0106 said:
I also think that headshot weapons should have a little dot in the middle of the reticule to tell the play when they have a headshot lined up. The BR had it and I think the Magnum, DMR and Needle Rifle should as well.

I've also discovered new jumps and ledges on both maps which I am please about. I wish I could play this game on a smaller, symmetrical map rather than the ones offered in Beta.
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Agree with all of this. Especially with regards to the maps.
 
Removing grenade drops and lessening their respawn frequency isn't a solution. All that does is give freshly spawning players a bigger advantage than they already have (with full health) and takes that part of the sandbox out more often then it should be. Lessen the blast radius and damage a bit. That's it.

1117 kills in and I'm still not really feeling the reticule bloom. The game is slow enough already and it takes enough shots to begin with so artificially slowing ones fire rate isn't necessary.

Can't wait for slayer pro. Not convinced the AAs are making the game more fun.
 
I totally called it. Sword Base > Powerhouse by far.

And I added HALOGAFBETA2, Cuban Legend said that was the tag... Is that right?

I hope they fix the invis-causing-no-sound-for-others-on-same-system problem.
 
EazyB said:
Removing grenade drops and lessening their respawn frequency isn't a solution. All that does is give freshly spawning players a bigger advantage than they already have (with full health) and takes that part of the sandbox out more often then it should be. Lessen the blast radius and damage a bit. That's it.

1117 kills in and I'm still not really feeling the reticule bloom. The game is slow enough already and it takes enough shots to begin with so artificially slowing ones fire rate isn't necessary.

Can't wait for slayer pro. Not convinced the AAs are making the game more fun.
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Agree with bolded 1.

Also, bolded 2...Solid Magnum firing rate
 
I'm still having trouble navigating around Sword Base. Doesn't help that some gametypes shut off the airlifts. Powerhouse is much easier to understand.

The only negative thing I have to say about the beta is the lack of polish, especially in the stream of kills/deaths. I also seem to randomly get a weird giant Halo 3 perfection medal in the middle of the screen every few games. No idea what it represents, and it doesn't show up on B.net.

I love the pistol, DMR, and needle rifle. The AR is a much better weapon this time. Melee changes are working really well for me. I haven't had a laggy feeling game yet either.

I wish that sudden death in 1 flag was more like a minute, and there should be 10 seconds if the flag is out. So many times our flag has been a couple of steps away from the (tiny!) capture point with no-one holding it and the game ends immediately at 0:00.

A couple of questions:

- What are the best flag routes on Sword Base?
- Am I supposed to be able to kill people with the grenade launcher? It seems to drop shields reasonably well, but not much else.
- Where does the sniper spawn on Sword Base?
- What's the giant perfection medal all about?
 
alisdair said:
A couple of questions:

- What are the best flag routes on Sword Base?
- Am I supposed to be able to kill people with the grenade launcher? It seems to drop shields reasonably well, but not much else.
- Where does the sniper spawn on Sword Base?
- What's the giant perfection medal all about?
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- I am not sure but people use the gravity lift to get higher.
- Yeah, but you need to hit them or time the explosion exactly right.
- Sniper spawns in the lobby (the big space). There's two high posts in the end closer to the gravity lift, sniper spawns between them, next to one of them.
- It's the Technician commendation. Luke said something about it earlier, but it's a placeholder name for doing something cool. Various medals add points to Technician: pull, extermination, close call and so on.
 
Popeck said:
- I am not sure but people use the gravity lift to get higher.
- Yeah, but you need to hit them or time the explosion exactly right.
- Sniper spawns in the lobby (the big space). There's two high posts in the end closer to the gravity lift, sniper spawns between them, next to one of them.
- It's the Technician commendation. Luke said something about it earlier, but it's a placeholder name for doing something cool. Various medals add points to Technician: pull, extermination, close call and so on.
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Coulda just said the trees.
 
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